Jails and Prisons

Notorious Ponzi schemer Scott Rothstein won’t be catching any breaks on his 50-year prison term after federal prosecutors filed court records Tuesday saying he lied to them and doesn’t deserve any sentence reduction.

Rothstein pleaded guilty to several federal charges after his Ponzi scheme imploded during the Halloween weekend in October 2009. The now-disbarred lawyer was caught operating a $1.4 billion fraud at his Fort Lauderdale law firm offices nearly eight years ago.

He initially cooperated with prosecutors, and they had planned to recommend reducing his prison sentence.

But they withdrew that offer Tuesday, saying Rothstein broke the terms of his binding, legal...

All of Florida’s 97,000 state prison inmates are on lockdown — and will remain confined to their dorms at least through the weekend — in response to unspecified threats about possible uprisings, officials from the Florida Department of Corrections...

Murder suspect Dayonte Resiles’ escape from the county courthouse last year was made possible by long-term “systemic failures” and a “collapse in security” in the downtown jail and courthouse, two internal investigations by the Broward Sheriff’s Office...

Ex-football star O.J. Simpson told the Nevada parole board Thursday that he plans to return to Florida, a state he called home for several years before he was sentenced for a Las Vegas hotel heist in 2008.
But could the Heisman Trophy winner return...

Boca Raton-based prison operator Geo said Friday it has been awarded renewals on two more federal prison contracts — further illustration of Geo’s reversal of fate under the Trump Administration.
The 10-year contracts from the Bureau of Prisons for...

Rapper Kodak Black stood up in court on Thursday and acknowledged his life — and skyrocketing success — were in the judge’s hands as he faced sentencing for violating his house arrest.
“Depending on the outcome of this, it could be the beginning of...

Update: In a ruling filed Thursday, U.S. District Judge Donald Middlebrooks ended most federal monitoring of Broward County jails, leaving only inmate mental health issues under the court’s continued review.
An evaluation of how the Broward Sheriff’s...

Exactly two weeks after his arrest on charges he shot five people to death in the Fort Lauderdale airport, Esteban Santiago was found crying while using a phone in jail.
He was quickly seen by a doctor. “Move on, that’s it for me, don’t waste time,” he...

Gov. Rick Scott called recently for a salary hike for 4,000 state law-enforcement officers in next year's budget. They're a deserving group, as the governor pointed out.
Yet there was a gaping hole in his proposal: the 22,000 correctional officers in...

The death of a mentally ill young man who starved himself in a Broward County jail was preventable and due to neglect by jail medical staff, according to a lawsuit filed Thursday in federal court.
Staff at Armor Correctional Health Services, the Miami...

A man who killed an Alabama convenience store clerk more than two decades ago was put to death Thursday night, an execution that required two consciousness tests as the inmate heaved and coughed 13 minutes into the lethal injection.
Ronald Bert Smith...

How did Broward County jails come under federal watch?
Three inmates filed a handwritten lawsuit in federal court on Feb. 27, 1976. The case, focused on crowding and other mistreatment, was taken up by attorneys and became a class-action suit including...

Boca Raton-based prison management company The Geo Group has reported its profits increased nearly 15 percent and its revenue 18 percent in the third quarter that ended Sept. 30. CEO George Zoley said the quarterly results reflect the company's...

Several shareholder lawsuits have been filed against private prison operator The Geo Group in U.S. District Court in the Southern District of Florida, alleging violations of securities laws.
A lawsuit on behalf of investors who purchased stock between...

A former prison guard accused of viciously beating a prisoner in New York, concocting a cover-up story and manufacturing evidence to blame the victim for the unprovoked attack, was arrested this week in Broward County and jailed overnight.Federal...

Members of the union representing state correctional officers delivered a frightening warning in July: Florida's underfunded and undermanned prison system is "a ticking time bomb."
This month, those fears were almost realized. Five Florida prisons, all...

A Broward lawyer who prosecutors say had an unusual method of procuring extremely violent and disturbing child pornography — and trying to find children he wanted to sexually abuse — was sentenced Friday to 17 ½ years in federal prison.David...

The state of Florida asked a federal appeals court Tuesday to allow it to discontinue a kosher meals program for thousands of religiously observant prison inmates in the event that chronic budget problems worsen and other costs take priority. An...

No one could ever accuse Gary Czajkowski of giving cheap gifts. There was a $8,500 Breitling wristwatch. A $3,000 Caribbean cruise. Handfuls of $500 gift cards. Tickets to NASCAR races in Homestead.The Palm Beach County utility contractor said it's his...

Families glued red and blue stripes to paper hats. They made thank-you cards for veterans.
One 7-year-old boy decorated his grandpa's face with silver stars.
It was a joyful Fourth of July celebration, but with one big catch.
It all took place inside a...